Shadow of Nothing
by Maloire
Summary: References to specific characters see if you can figure 'em out!
1. Shadow of Nothing

**Author's Note:** Nearly each stanza is supposed to reflect something from a different character, can you guess who's who?

**Disclaimer:** I don't own FF8 and all that good stuff, please see Squaresoft/Square Enix.

**-*-**

**Shadow of Nothing**

Crimson crust,  
Broken trust  
Nowhere to be found.

Fragile heart,  
Torn apart  
Shattered to the ground.

Flooding tears,  
Falling fears  
Windows to your soul.

Buried love,  
Wingless dove  
Never to be whole.

Feathered petals,  
Worthless medals,  
Scars for memories.

Songs of past,  
Not to last,  
Haunting melodies.

Sunny days  
Set ablaze  
Missiles streaking down...

Faulty prime  
For all your crime,  
This one takes the crown

Shrouded sight,  
Faithless knight  
Caught up in a dream.

Floating Earth,  
For what it's worth,  
Broken at the seam.

Greiver strife  
Brought to life,  
Driving home your doubt.

Mystic death  
Stole your breath,  
Orphans brought about.

Top in class,  
Suppressed sass,  
Would-be prodigy.

Caught in past,  
Free at last,  
Accept my 'pology?


	2. Break it Down

**Author's Note:** This may be a huge mistake and may end up ruining the mystery or whatever. So if you don't want to know, I guess you shouldn't read this part (as it could be considered a spoiler of sorts!)  
Anyway, this is sort of an analysis on the actual poem (first chapter...) in case no one caught what I was doing or would like to see if their thoughts were along the same lines as mine while writing this!  
_Italics: Poem._  
Underlined: Who the stanza may be dedicated to.  
So... here we go:

**-*-**

Cheater's sheet

Slightly dedicated to Laguna  
_Crimson crust, _: Blood's been dried from line 2  
_Broken trust _: A supposed promise to return to Winhill ASAP...  
_Nowhere to be found. _: So basically, he (arguably) betrayed Raine, and her blood was spilt and trust was broken.

Could be to either Raine or Julia...  
_Fragile heart, _: Julia, and perhaps Raine, waited before sharing her/their feelings.  
_Torn apart _: Heartache as a resulting effect of fate.  
_Shattered to the ground. _: The broken promises to return obviously had drastic effects on the people taking part in them.

This can apply to numerous characters... Take your pick? :)  
_Flooding tears,  
Falling fears  
Windows to your soul. _: The eyes are thought to be windows to one's soul...

Poor Quisty  
_Buried love, _: Her hidden feelings to a certain person...  
_Wingless dove _: A symbol of her slight envy towards Rinoa's hold over *cough* supposed person  
_Never to be whole. _: Unrequited love... She tries to hold out for one person in the beginning of the game, but there are times when her feelings cause more pain because they aren't a common factor in the professional relationship (if that makes any sense...)

Refers more to the opening scene than a specific character.  
_Feathered petals, _: Rinoa sending her love through petals and feathers alike.  
_Worthless medals, _: The heroes receive all sorts of 'prizes' in the end...  
_Scars for memories. _: Two gunblade specialists battle it out...

Renown pianist, Julia Heartilly.  
_Songs of past, _: Eyes on Me  
_Not to last, _: She died, and so that's going to have lasting effects on all her fans and family alike.  
_Haunting melodies. _: Sort of sums it up, huh?

Bright little brunette, Selphie.  
_Sunny days _: Well, "sunny" describes her usual personality.  
_Set ablaze _: (See line 3)  
_Missiles streaking down_: Yep, Seifer's missile launch has a major impact on her because of its target: Trabia. The death of many of her classmates is bound to hit hard...and it shows.

Seifer  
_Faulty prime _: The power he has is not quite pure, since he's not really in control.  
_For all your crime, _: Acts he committed under the sorceress (torture, missiles, attack on Garden...)  
_This one takes the crown._: Sacrificing Rinoa to Adel, in the eyes of Rinoa, Squall, and perhaps himself, could take the cake as his worst betrayal. Problems galore, and not much to do but continue on...

Still Seifer, and perhaps the rest of the FF series  
_Shrouded sight, _: His romantic dream fails him.  
_Faithless knight  
Caught up in a dream._

Directed to the whole "Save the world" theme connecting all FF games :)   
_Floating Earth, _: Taking in the view of the world from space during the Lunar Cry...  
_For what it's worth,  
Broken at the seam._

Squall  
_Griever strife _: Reference to the GF  
_Brought to life, _: Which they'd just fought...  
_Driving home your doubt. _: Doubt of his inner strength to get through the barren landscape in the end. After the fight, and he's forced to wonder the barren landscape... he's probably doubting the strength of Laguna's words "You can't do these things alone. You need somebody You need love and friendship for this mission! And the courage to believe it. It's all about love, friendship, and courage!" (Sorry, that was long!)

Edea  
_Mystic death _: Not quite death, but it was pretty close, being possessed and all.  
_Stole your breath,_: Breath as a symbol of life. Her life was taken from her as she tried to protect those around her.  
_Orphans brought about _: Orphans were created by one sorceress, and sheltered by another... who was taken over by the one more evil sorceress.

This can apply to several characters, but I'm leaning towards Squall  
_Top in class, _: Always being challenged by Seifer.  
_Suppressed sass, _: (And he thinks Laguna talks to himself too much...)  
_Would-be prodigy. _: So, this can connect to the last stanza, which expresses Laguna's apology for some of the above regrets.

Laguna  
_Caught in past, _: Memories of broken promises.  
_Free at last, _: Finally woken up to reality.  
_Accept my 'pology? _: A question to Squall, Raine, and Julia.

**-*-**

Ah, does that help anything? Or make it even more confusing... 


End file.
